Andrew james bell



(NOMode1.)

'A. J. BELL.

ROPE PULLEY BLOCK. No. 311,169. Patented Jan. 2'7, 1885.

l INVENTGR aflndrewj'amesfiel By 7221; Attorney WITNESSES UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW JAMES BELL, OE MANCHESTER, COUNTY OF LANCASTER, ENG-LAND.

ROPE-PULLEY' BLOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 311,169, dated January27, 1885;

Application filed September 27, 1884. (No model-l Patented in EnglandMay 9, 1884, No. 7,451.

a subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, residing atManchester, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented certainImprovements in RopePulley Blocks, (patented in Great Britain andIreland by Letters Patent N 0. 7,451, dated May 9, 1884;) and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescriptionof my said invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form part of thisspecification.

The object cf this invention is the applicacation to rope-pulley blocksof a friction clip or brake apparatus, whereby the lifting, carrying,suspending, or lowering of heavy Weights can be facilitated andperformed with less manual labor than has hitherto been practicable.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings illustrates a side view, and Fig.2 a front view, ofan ordinary rope-pulley block having my improvementsapplied thereto; and Fig. 3 represents a plan of the frictionalapparatus detached from the pulley-block.

Although shown as applied to a pulleyblock with three rope-pulleys, itwill be obvious that the improvements are equally applicable to blocksusing more or less than three pulleys.

In carrying out my invention I attach a light metallic frame, a, withtwo projecting cheeks,

b, by preference to the same central bolt or pin, a, which carries therope-pulleys d. In the face of a wooden block, e, secured to this frame,are formed three grooves, f, in which the pulley-ropes g slide, andmounted upon a pair of right and left handed screws, h and i, projectingfrom the face of this frame, is a corresponding wooden block, j,similarly formed with three grooves, 70, to receive the pulley-ropes 9.These grooved blocks are capable of being screwed together so as tofirmly grasp all the ropes 9 simultaneously, and thus to act as a brakeupon such ropes by means of toothed wheels I and m, screwed upon therespective right and left handed screws h and i; The hand-rope a,passing round the pulley 0, serves to impart revolving motion to asillustrated, and thus causes the brakeblocks a and j to approach towardor recede from each other at the will'of the operator. The action ofthis improved pulley-block will be at once apparent. So long as thebrakeblocks 6 and j are free from the ropes g the latter can be drawnthrough the block and the weight be raised or lowered or suspended; butimmediately the hand-rope n is pulled down in the direction of thearrow, revolving motion is imparted to the toothed wheels I and m, andthese, acting as screw-nuts upon the screws h and i, thus cause thebrake-blocks to approach other, and to squeeze the ropes simultaneouslybetween them. In this manner the weight is effectually locked inposition, leaving the operators hands at liberty, and such weight thusremains suspended and cannot be lowered again until the reverse end ofthe rope a is pulled, when, by a reverse action, the brake-blocks arecaused to recede again, assisted by the spiral springs 17, interposedbetween the blocks, thus loosening their grip upon the ropes. It will befurther observed that these brakeblocks also afford facility forregulating the lowering of a weight at any desired speed.

I claim as my invention 1. A friction-brake for ropepulley blocks,having a pair of brake-blocks between which the pulleyropes pass, a pairof right-and-left screws extending through one of said brakeblocks, apair of toothed wheel-nuts applied to said screws and intermeshing witheach other, and a hand-rope pulley attached to one of.

the wheelsl and m, which are geared together

